Wednesday, June 22, 2011

John Snow, Inc. (JSI) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project. This project, administered by JSI as part of a contract it has with the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), will fund non-profit, community-based organizations with budgets less than $750,000 to implement projects that address Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives and integrate at least one of the following Healthy People 2020 Community Innovation Project priorities: environmental justice, health equity, and healthy behaviors across all life stages. As many as 170 projects will be given between $5,000 to $10,000 to conduct projects between December 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

The deadline for submitting an application in response to this Request for Proposal (RFP) is Friday, August 5, 2011. More details are included in the attached Healthy People 2020 RFP, which is also available online at www.healthypeople.gov.

A Bidders Conference will be held on Monday, June 27, 2011 as follows:

During this one hour conference call and webinar, JSI and ODPHP will describe the Healthy People 2020 initiative, review the Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project Request for Proposal (RFP), and address any questions that bidders may have.

Thank you. We hope you will work with your staff and partners to apply for this important funding opportunity.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

HealthInsight is conducting a series of focus groups on health information technology, or computer tools used by your doctor to track and coordinate your healthcare. If you are willing to share your opinions on this topic with a small group of individuals from your area, please get in touch with us. Feedback will be kept anonymous and will be shared with policymakers to inform public policy and outreach efforts.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

In compliance with Senate Bill 33, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH), Center for Multicultural Health has been replaced with the Office of Health Disparities Reduction (OHD). Dulce Díez, MPH, CHES, has been selected as its manager.

Díez says the new office will have a broader mission than the former Center for Multicultural Health, which focused only on racial and ethnic minority health. “As the new Office of Health Disparities Reduction, we will continue our commitment to reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, but we are also looking for opportunities to address health disparities by geography and income,” she explained.

“The name of the office reflects a goal that is a top priority for the Utah Department of Health,” said Dr. David Patton, UDOH Executive Director. “Many citizens of our state don’t enjoy the good health outcomes we have come to expect in Utah, but every citizen should have equal opportunities to become healthy.”

Utah recently slipped from 2nd to 7th healthiest state in the nation according to the 2010 America's Health Rankings report. The United Health Foundation report highlighted geographic health disparities as one of three key Utah weaknesses, along with a shortage of primary care physicians and low funding for public health. Utah ranked 44th in the nation in the "geographic disparity" category.

Monday, June 6, 2011

MyPlate is a new generation icon with the intent to prompt individuals to think about building a healthy plate at meal times and to seek more information to help them do that by going to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov. The new MyPlate icon emphasizes the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy food groups.

MyPlate will replace the MyPyramid image as the government’s primary food group symbol as an easy-to-understand visual cue to help consumers adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. MyPyramid will remain available to interested health professionals and nutrition educators in a special section of the new website.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, launched in January of this year, form the basis of the federal government’s nutrition education programs, federal nutrition assistance programs, and dietary advice provided by health and nutrition professionals. The Guidelines messages include: